In-line skates of the type having a plurality of elastomeric wheel assemblies mounted in a common plane constitute one of the fastest growing product markets over the last ten years, particularly in this country but also in many other developed countries, principally because they are relatively easy for the inexperienced skater to maneuver, but even above that, the high speeds capable with in-line skates on a variety of surfaces, have made them the skate of choice for a variety of sports, such as hockey, and for newly developed specialized sporting activities, such as acrobatic skating.
In most sporting activities that are speed related, it is desirable to provide speedometer and odometer systems for the user to better appreciate his or her speed or distance achievements and improvements. However, somewhat surprising, and as a result of the search that was conducted in anticipation of this application, no such speedometer-odometer assembly has been provided that can be integrated directly into both after-market and OEM in-line skates, and it is to that objective that the present invention is pointed.
The patents found in this search include:
______________________________________ UNITED STATES PATENTS Inventor U.S. Pat. No. Issue Date ______________________________________ Smith 2,505,154 4-25-50 Moll 3,505,878 4-14-70 Hadtke 3,978,725 9-7-76 Jander, et al. 4,262,537 4-21-81 Price 4,298,910 11-3-81 Cameron 4,546,650 10-15-85 Tuyn, et al. 4,860,585 8-29-89 Dittbrenner 5,003,820 4-2-91 Irwin 5,037,303 8-6-91 Edwards 5,344,055 9-6-94 Pozzobon, et al. 5,536,026 7-16-96 Conway 5,580,093 12-3-96 ______________________________________
The Cameron, U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,650; the Tuyn, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,585; the Irwin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,303; the Moll, U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,878; the Hadtke, U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,725, and the Jander, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,537, all show speedometers for snow or water skis.
The Cameron patent is relevant in that it shows a speedometer mounted with Velcro to the ski and carries a snow-engaging wheel 17 that has magnets 19. A Hall effect sensor 20 is positioned so that it detects magnetic field changes induced by the passage of the magnets attached to the wheel. For example, in FIG. 5 the top magnet is oriented so that its North pole points out the right-hand face of the toothed wheel 17 while the bottom magnet is oriented so that its South pole points out the same side. Rotation of the wheel is detected by the Hall effect sensor 20 when the magnetic field changes back to its original polarity. This indication is then sent to the microcomputer 21 via the conductive leads(not shown) of the Hall effect sensor 20.
The Tuyn, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,585, shows a ski mounted device similar to Cameron's except for a downward spring biasing arrangement.
The Moll, U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,878; the Hadtke, U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,725; the Jander, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,537, and the Dittbrenner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,820, also relate to ski mounted speedometers but the technology is not useable in a built-in design for an inline skate.
The Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 2,505,154, shows a roller skate magneto mounted in the rear wheel of the skate that powers lights.
The Price, U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,910, shows a roller skate with wheel mounted generating devices for lights secured to the wheels or other parts of the skate.
The Pozzobon, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,026, shows a wheel mounted generator for roller skates to provide a power source for computer-generated systems for developing data relating to average speed, distance and time used to cover the distance in sporting activities.
FIG. 10 discloses a plurality of first magnets 212 within the wheel assembly, a second set of magnets 215 outside the wheel frame, and a plurality of windings 210 on the inside of the frame facing magnets 212. The inventor says little about this embodiment, but it appears to me to be an electricity generating system as opposed to a speed sensor.
The Conway, U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,093, shows a generator similar to Price's.
And finally, the Edwards, U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,055, shows a water bottle holding device for in-line roller blades, which is not of any specific significance.
It is a primary object to ameliorate the problems noted above in speedometer assemblies adapted for other uses and to provide an extremely well-designed wheel assembly for an in-line skate speedometer for uncomplicated attachment to either after-market or OEM in-line skates.